Drawing instrument for coding and decoding drawings



Aug. 27, 1963 MORIN 3,101,548

DRAWING INSTRUMENT FOR CODING AND DECODING DRAWINGS Filed May 8, 1961 O0O0 OO-O 2 ADO MAO o 0o 00 oo o uv VEN TOR Gilles NOR/N I 6 BY PATENTAGENT ends thereof. In the United States Patent Ofliice 3,101,548 IPatented Aug. 27, 1963 3,101,548 DRAWING INSTRUMENT FOR CODING ANDDECGDING DRAWINGS Gilles -Morin, 405 Roberge Sh, Thetford Mines, Quebec,Canada Filed May 8, 1961, Ser. No. 108,475 7 Claims. (Cl. 33-23) Thepresent invention relates to a drawing instrument of the general classof the pantograph and has for its object an instrument of specialconstruction adapted for coding or decoding a drawing, whereby with theuse of the instrument of the present invention it is possible totranslate a drawing into a series of completely jumbled lines and withthe same instrument to reconstitute the original drawing from saidjumbled lines.

The instrument of the present invention may be used as a game and mayfind other applications for coding and decoding drawings.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become moreapparent during the following disclosure and by referring to thedrawings, in which:

' FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the instrument in accordance withthe invention showing how the sameis used for coding a drawing into aset of jumbled lines or vice versa;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the main or base plate of the instrument;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section along line 3-3 of FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the guide plate;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-section along line 55 of FIG- URE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a the instrument.

- In the drawings, the same reference characters-indicate the sameelements throughout.

Reference numeral 1 indicates a main plate or base plate of generallyrectangular shape and which may be made of any suitable rigid material,such as wood, plastic, or the like, and may be of laminatedconstruction, as shown in cross-section in FIGURE 3. Main plate 1 has apair of index notches 2 made at the end edges thereof near the fourcorners of the main plate. Main plate 1 has also a series of groups offour holes 3, 3', 3" etc., the four holes of each group being disposedin accordance with a rectangle, the rectangles being adjacent each otherand aligned longitudinally of the main plate. The holes 3, 3', 3", etc.,open at the top face 4 of the main plate and may also open at the bottomface thereof, if desired.

The drawing instrument of the present invention further comprises aguide plate 5 of generally rectangular shape and made of the samematerial as main plate 1, being preferably of laminated constructionwith a rigid backing The underface of guide plate 5 is provided withfour downwardly projecting studs 7 disposed at the four corners of arectangle of the same size as the rectangles defined by holes 3, 3, 3",etc., of main plate 1, so as to fit in any one group ofholes 3, 3, 3etc., whereby the guide plate 5 may be adjustably secured to the mainplate over the same in any one of several laterally adjusted positions,for instance seven positions when using the main plate il-lustrated inFIGURE 2. The guide plate 5 is provided with a guiding groove 8 openingat the top face of the plate 5, and having its bottom defined by thebacking 6. The guiding groove 8 is non rectilinear being longitudinallycurved to form a wavy or sinuous path, :as clearly shown in FIGURE 4.The groove 8 extends longitudinally of the center of guide plate 5 andmay or may not open at both embodiment shown in the drawings, groove 8opens at both ends of guide plate 5.

The instrument of the invention further comprises a perspective view ofthe seriber arm of 2 pantograph or scriber arm 9 consisting of a rigidstraight bar to the underside of which is secured a downwardly extendingfulcrum pin 10 adapted to engage and move within the guiding groove 8 ofguide plate 5 with the arm 9 free to rotate about fulcrum pin 10 overthe guide plate 5. Fulcrum pin ltlis secured approximately at the middleof the bar 9 and the outer ends of bar 9 are provided with downwardlyextending tracing stylus 11 and marking stylus 12 respectively. Themarking stylus 12 may consist of a lead 13 or of a pen secured inposition by a holder 14 itself fitted within a hole made in the end'ofthe bar 9. The tracing stylus 11 is also of conventional constructionand may consist of a pointed steel pin secured Within a holder 15 itselffitted within a hole made in the bar 9.

Preferably, the holder 15 projects upwardly from bar 9 to form a supportrotatably receiving a sleeve-like grip 16.

The scriber bar 9 is further provided at the middle thereof with meanswhich in conjunction with guide plate 5 serve to limit the pivotalmovement of the scriber bar 9 with respect to the guide plate 5. Thesemeans consist of oppositely directed laterally projecting arms 17secured to the center of bar 9 in the plane of fulcrum pin 10 and eachprovided at its outer end with a downwardly extending abutment block 18adapted to abut against the side faces 19 of the guide plate 5, tothereby limit the angle of rotation of bar 9 with respect to guide plate5 equally on each side of the long axis of guide plate 5.

The instrumentis used as follows: For coding a drawing into a set ofjumbled or scrambled lines, referring to FIGURE 1, let ussuppose that itis desired to code the drawing A marked on the sheet of paper C. First,longitudinal parallel lines Dare traced on the sheet C with a spacingequal to the distance separating each group of holes 3, 3', 3", etc.,made in the main plate 1. The sheet C is also marked with index marks Ejust below the drawing A which are so positioned laterally of sheet Cthat when main'plate 1 is positioned 011 sheet C with one set of indexnotches 2 in register with marks E, the center lines of the groups ofholes 3, 3', 3T, etc., will coincide with the center lines of the zonesdefined by the lines D.- The drawing A is furthermore crossed by atransverse line F at approximately the middle of said drawing. The mainplate 1 is positioned on the sheet C with the top notches 2 in registerwith the index marks E, as shown in FIGURE 1.v When the main plate 1 isin position, it is so located that the center lines of the rectanglesbounded by the groups of holes 3, 3', etc., correspond with the centerlines of the zones limited by the longitudinal lines D on the sheet ofdrawing. The guide plate 5 is then positioned on the main plate I'Withits studs '7 engaging the first group of holes 3, then the scriber bar 9is positioned on the guide. plate with its fulcrum pin 10 engaging thewavy guiding groove 8 and with the tracing stylus 11 on the side of thedrawing. One follows with this tracing stylus the bottom part of thedrawing A below cross line F and within the first zone delimited bylongitudinal lines D whereby a set of scrambled lines G are inscribed onthe lower part of the sheet C by the marking stylus 12. It

will be noted that these lines do not correspond at all to the shape ofthe lines of the drawings followed by the tracing stylus, because thefulcrum pin 10 of the scriber bar 9, not only moves up and down withingroove 8, but also sideways due to the curved wavy shape of the groove8. The above procedure is repeated after having displaced the guideplate 5 laterally to engage the next group 3 or" holes within the mainplate I, and the lines of the drawing delimited by the next area inregister with the displaced guiding plate are followed with the tracingstylus and jumbled lines G are automatically inscribed on the sheet ofpaper below the main plate. The procedure is again repeated in the samemanner. until the guiding plate 5 has been positioned to correspond withall the zones delimited by lines D. It is preferred to mternate for eachzone the type of lines marked with marking stylus 12. F or instance,scrambled lines G will be marked with a thick lead while the nextscrambled lines G will be marked with a thin lead, and so on, as clearlyshown in FIGURE 1.

Before or after the lower part of the drawing has been so inscribed, adotted line H is marked across the zone of scrambled lines by followingline F with tracing stylus 11 for all zones delimited by lines D; thenthe main plate 1 is moved upwardly, so that its lower set of indexnotches 2 will then correspond with the index marks E. Thus, the upperpart of the drawing A can be traced and converted into scrambled lineswhich will then be marked above the dotted line H. The same procedure isfollowed for these lines as described hereinabove.

Printed sheets of paper with the scrambled lines G, G etc., the dottedline H and additional index marks E together with the index marks E canbe sold and a person equipped with the drawing instrument of theinvention can reproduced the drawing A from these scrambled lines G, G,by simply reversing the procedure outlined above, that is by followingthe scrambled lines G, G with the tracing stylus thereby automaticallymaking the drawing with the marking stylus 12. The variation ofthickness of the scrambled lines G, G aids in selecting said lines formarking in the corresponding zone delimited by longitudinal lines D.Also the transverse lines H aid in delimiting the area of the sheet ofpaper to be drawn in accordance with the scrambled lines G, G.

In this respect, the limiting means consisting of the lateral arms 17and blocks 18 secured to the scriber bar 9 help also in Working in thearea corresponding to the transverse position of the guide plate 5 onmain plate 1.

Thus, the drawing instrument of the present invention can convert ortrans ate a drawing into completely scrambled or jumbled lines having nomeaning by themselves and said lines can be retranslated into theoriginal drawing, the main characteristic of the instrument being thefact that its fulcrum pin it) moves longitudinally within a groove ofsinuous or Wavy shape.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present inventionhas been illustrated and described, it is understood that variousmodifications may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: a

1. A drawing instrument for coding and decoding drawings, comprising aguide plate having a sinous groove made therein, a scriber bar having adownwardly projecting fulcrum pin in engagement with said groove, andmovable therein to laterally displace said her while allowing pivotalmovement of said bar with respect to said guide plate, a marking stylusat one end and a tracing stylus at the other end of said scriber bar,and lateral anms secured to said scriber bar in the plane of saidfulcrum pin, and downwardly projecting blocks at the outer end of saidlater-a1 arms adapted to abut against the side faces of said guide plateto limit the relative pivotal movement of said scriber bar with respectto said guide plate.

2. A drawing instrument as claimed in claim 1, Wherein said fulcrum pinis located at approximately the center of said scriber bar.

3. A drawing instrument for coding and decoding drawings, comprising aguide plate having a sinuous groove made therein, a scriber bar having adownwardly projecting fulcrum pin in engagement with said groove,=andmovable therein to laterally displace said bar while allowing pivotalmovement of said bar with respect to said guide plate, a marking stylusat one end and a tracing stylus at the other end of said scriber bar, amain plate, and inter-engageable means between said main plate and saidguide plate to .adjustably secure said guide plate in a plurality ofselected positions on said main plate.

4. A drawing instrument as claimed in claim 3, wherein saidinter-engageable means include pins projecting from one of said platesand holes made in the other of said plates for receiving said pins.

5. A drawing instrument as claimed in claim 3, wherein said scriber barfurther includes lateral arms and downwardly projecting blocks at theouter ends of said arms engageable with the side faces of said guideplate to limit the pivotal movement of said scriber bar with respect tosaid guide plate.

6. A drawing instrument as claimed in claim 3, wherein said main platehas index notches made in the end edges thereof. v

7. A drawing instrument as claimed in claim 4, wherein said holes aremade in said main plate and the pins project from said guide plate, saidmain plate having a length several times the width of said guide plate,said holes being arranged in several groups longitudinally arranged onsaid main plate, each group adapted to receive the pins of said guideplate.

References Cited in the file' of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS Germany91,580 Apr. 17, 1897

1. A DRAWING INSTRUMENT FOR CODING AND DECODING DRAWINGS, COMPRISING AGUIDE PLATE HAVING A SINOUS GROOVE MADE THEREIN, A SCRIBER BAR HAVING ADOWNWARDLY PROJECTING FULCRUM PIN IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID GROOVE, ANDMOVABLE THEREIN TO LATERALLY DISPLACE SAID BAR WHILE ALLOWING PIVOTALMOVEMENT OF SAID BAR WITH RESPECT TO SAID GUIDE PLATE, A MARKING STYLUSAT ONE END AND A TRACING STYLUS AT THE OTHER END OF SAID SCRIBER BAR,AND LATERAL ARMS SECURED TO SAID SCRIBER BAR IN THE PLANE OF SAIDFULCRUM PIN, AND DOWNWARDLY PROJECTING BLOCKS AT THE OUTER END OF SAIDLATERAL ARMS ADAPTED TO ABUT AGAINST THE SIDE FACES OF SAID GUIDE PLATETO LIMIT THE RELATIVE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID SCRIBER BAR WITH RESPECTTO SAID GUIDE PLATE.